Vemork
Place: rjukan · Exact position
Norsk Hydro built the power station at Vemork to harness the force of the waterfall in the mountain – and here the company extracted heavy water, a rare substance the Allies feared could serve German atomic research. On the night between 27 and 28 February 1943, nine saboteurs from Kompani Linge lowered themselves into the snow-covered ravine, followed the railway track into the plant and got into the high-concentration room without a single shot being fired. The charges tore the cells apart and sent around 500 kilos of heavy water out across the floor. The operation, led by Joachim Rønneberg, delayed and disrupted a production the Allies feared – exactly how decisive the blow was for the German atomic programme is still debated among historians. Britain's SOE nonetheless reckoned Operation Gunnerside the most successful act of sabotage of the entire war. Today Norsk Industriarbeidermuseum (the Norwegian Industrial Workers' Museum) stands at Vemork and tells the story of both the power station and the heavy water operations.